This invention relates generally to the art of overflow valve systems, and provides such a system which can be portably moved from one tank or pool to another to control the flow of liquid therein through hoses.
It has long been a problem for above-ground swimming pool owners, as well as for users of other liquid tanks, to fill the tanks without fear of overflowing them. In this respect, filling large tanks often requires a great deal of time, thus, those in charge of filling such tanks often leave hoses turned on in the tanks while they do other things, with the thought that they can periodically check the tanks to see if they are yet full. Unfortunately, it often occurs that such people forget that they are filling tanks and fail to monitor them, thereby overflowing them. It is an object of this invention to provide an overflow valve which can be easily hooked to a liquid source pipe, such as a flexible hose, and placed in a swimming pool or tank for automatically controlling the level of liquid to which the tank is to be filled by the source pipe.
A number of overflow valve systems have been suggested for use with swimming pools which hang on the sides of the swimming pools, examples of such overflow valve systems being described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,842,158 to Robinson, 3,908,206 to Grewing, 4,586,532 to Tsolkas, and 3,176,707 to Wilson. However, all of these overflow valve systems include specialized valves operated by floats in conjunction with specialized housings. The valves thereof would be relatively expensive to manufacture and, since they are specialized valves, difficult to make widely available to the public. It is an object of this invention to provide an overflow valve system which utilizes an off-the-shelf valve which is readily available in all communities and which is already manufactured in such large numbers that it, and parts thereof, would be readily, and relatively inexpensively, available to the public.
Further, it is an object of this invention to provide an overflow valve system which is extremely inexpensive to manufacture because it has relative few uncomplicated parts, some of which are off-the-shelf.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an overflow valve system which is sturdy, accurate in operation, and extremely easy to repair.